Kaydara

The odd animated intro almost made me stop watching the film, as there is no hint that it is just an intro. I honestly thought for several minutes that this movie was simply claymation. However if you can bear past that it is a nice retread down familiar territory, though kind of like The Matrix if it were made in the 1920s shot on a worn-out 20yo VHS.

How this Kaydara film could be rewritten by Hollywood: The truce has been broken by various acts of terror from man against the machines. Neo has been sighted in various places after the events of the third film. Neo is said to be behind these acts of terror in a hero-complex desire to be needed as he was before. However he has full support from most humans who never wanted a truce to begin with, rather they wanted full destruction of the machines. Kaydara stays out of the human-machines war, preferring human-human bounty instead. He despises neo but has never seen him and no one can track him. However as his contracts on humans continually lead him toward neo..he begins to grow suspicious. We find a scarred Trinity has actually been the one who has hired Kaydara, and that the machines have reverse-engineered a neo for themselves. It was the machines who sent this bastard-copy neo to create the terror against themselves and re-ignite the war in hopes of getting rid of all the humans at once with a Trojan horse attack from their beloved savior.

Despite the claims made in the few other (dry) user reviews, I found Kaydara to be quite a pleasant surprise. It is rather rare to see CGI and fighting choreography of this caliber in a lower-budget film. They even manage to thread in some humor without it coming off as forced. Additionally, the film offers a curiously unique philosophical viewpoint concerning the Matrix universe, which isn't offered in the original trilogy.

With that last point in mind, I found the storyline to be excellent. Easily an 8 out of 10. It's obvious that the creators of this film weren't trying to cash in on the Matrix franchise, rather, they sought to offer a fresh and brand new perspective on the Matrix universe. Although, I would like to have seen more in terms of dialogue, as I feel that the concepts posed in this film are deserving of that additional attention.

As I mentioned previously, the CGI was excellent as well. One really can't ask for much more than is offered here, especially considering the low-budget status of this film. I was very impressed, especially concerning the level of detail found in the ships, the ship's HUDs, and the landscapes. Their portrayal of The One was somewhat clever as well. Instead of casting some unknown Keanu Reeves lookalike, the producers decorated him via CGI and give his skin a metallic, almost mythical, look.

The soundtrack and sound effects found in Kaydara were of pleasant quality as well; they complemented the visuals of the film quite nicely.

The acting certainly wasn't Hollywood caliber, though it was by no means poor either, as it didn't affect the overall feel and flow of the story.

All in all, I feel that Kaydara wasn't produced to cater to the masses, but rather cater to those of us who have that prevailing interest in the Matrix universe and its philosophies. If you come into this film expecting some wacky Hollywood hijinks, you'd be well advised to move on. However if you have a genuine interest in the universe of the Matrix, and its philosophical basis, this movie is a must see.